ISLAMABAD – Pakistan condemned the acquittal of all accused involved in the Samjhauta terror attack by the Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court in India, despite the severe nature of the crime.
Pakistan’s Acting Foreign Secretary summoned the Indian High Commissioner to lodge strong protest and condemnations against the acquittal of the four accused, including Swami Aseemanand, in the Samjhauta attack, according to a Foreign Office press release.
The official stressed that Pakistan had consistently raised the lack of progress and the subsequent, concerted attempts by India to exonerate the perpetrators of the heinous terrorist act in which over 40 innocent Pakistanis lost their lives.
The issue was raised repeatedly, including at the sidelines of the Senior Officials, Heart of Asia Meeting in 2016. Formal demarches were also lodged regularly with India on the lack of progress and acquittal of the accused in other cases.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/benefit-of-doubt-india-acquits-four-accused-in-samjhauta-express-bombing-case/
“It also belies the rampant Indian duplicity and hypocrisy where India reflexively levels allegations of terrorism against Pakistan, while protecting with impunity, terrorists who had publicly confessed to their odious crimes,” the official said.
The Acting Foreign Secretary emphasized that the systemic Indian decision to gradually exonerate and finally acquit the perpetrators, was not only a gross reflection of India’s callous insensitivity to the plight of the 44 families of the deceased Pakistanis, who hoped that India would provide them justice but also reflective of the Indian state policy of promoting and protecting Hindu terrorists.
Earlier, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in India acquitted all four accused in the Samjhauta Express bombing case ignoring the confession of one of them.
“The NIA Special Court has concluded that the investigating agency has failed to prove the conspiracy charge and ruled that [the] accused deserve a benefit of [the] doubt,” Indian media quoted NIA Counsel RK Handa as saying.
The four accused include Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, Lokesh Sharma, Kamal Chauhan, and Rajinder Chaudhary – all of whom appeared before the court today.
